http://www.bloomberg.com/…

U.S. lawmakers said they made a breakthrough in talks on a $700 billion plan to revive the credit markets and expect to announce an agreement on legislation later today. Negotiators resolved “our differences so we can go forward with a package to stabilize the market,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters when talks at the Capitol ended after midnight Washington time.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the proposed deal “will work and be effective” in the marketplace. More work needs to be done, “but I think we’re there,” he said.

Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said early this morning that administration officials are “pleased with the progress tonight and appreciate the bipartisan effort to stabilize our financial markets and protect our economy.”

Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat who chairs the Budget Committee, said $250 billion would be immediately available and another $100 billion could be used when requested by the president for debt purchases. Congress could bar the expenditure of the remaining $350 billion only by passing a resolution to block it from being spent.

The package includes a provision aimed at “preventing golden parachutes” for executives of companies who leave firms that have sold troubled assets to the government, Conrad said.

Companies that sell debt to the government will issue stock warrants to the government so that taxpayers “can gain as companies recover” from economic difficulties, Conrad said.

A proposal that would allow judges to modify mortgage terms for struggling borrowers in bankruptcy proceedings wasn’t included, said Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat. “We pushed very hard” for the bankruptcy provision, “but we feel we got good foreclosure mitigation language in there,” Dodd said.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said the plan “appears to embrace” his principles that the legislation include oversight by an independent board; protections for taxpayers to ensure they receive any profits; measures to help homeowners stay in their homes; and rules to make sure “CEOs are not being rewarded at taxpayers’ expense.”

“There were a series of breakthroughs here in the end” and the agreement on executive compensation “was certainly the most important,” Conrad said. He declined to give further details because the language being drafted by lawyers is “quite complicated.”

Taxpayers will not see a dime of any possible profits… the GOVERNMENT will. What Mr. Obama means is he will be less likely to tax the shit out of us if the happen to make a few pennies from this ‘deal.’ Which is highly unlikely. It really hits home I hope, especially after reading below, that these politicians are not representatives of the people. They represent big business and the elite. It has always been like that and always will. The potential the government has due to its assumed role is a incredible draw on those who would like to use that power for their own interests. It is an inherently flawed system and no ammount of wishful thinking or “getting in the right guy” will fix it.

Read More…

http://money.cnn.com/…

• “NO NO NO. Not just no, but HELL NO,” writes Richard, a reader from Anchorage, Alaska.
• “This is robbery pure and simple,” Anna from Denver posted on CNNMoney.com’s TalkBack blog this weekend.
• “I’m tired of rewarding institutions and people for the bad decisions they have made,” said Dean from Madison, Wis. “Sure, it will hurt tax payers if/when some of these institutions fail, but perhaps we need to let that happen. We do not need more big government involved in our lives. Enough is enough.”
• “Companies, like individuals, should be held responsible for their decisions,” wrote Jorge from El Paso, Texas. “This buyout does not address the other problems in the pipeline such as personal credit default and market slowdowns in most industries. No new jobs will be created.”
• “It is time for the financial institutions of this country to be called to the mat. We should be expecting and demanding responsible and ethical business practice, not rewarding it at the expense of taxpayers.” Paul from Portsmouth, N.H.
• “The government does not have $700 billion dollars. WE have $700 billion, and it is being taken from us. If this is passed then the next administration and the next will be extracting this one from the people who are supposedly being protected by this bailout.” John from Springfield, Va.
• “Why not take the billions and … make funds available to home owners stuck in the loans these idiots created, marketed and sold,” asked Don from Coarsegold, Calif. “It will put the money where it should be with the little guy who made a mistake, instead of the big guy who created the problem.”
• “Once I invested in something and lost money. Maybe I could just change the rules of investing so that my loss turns into a gain? Oh, I forgot only banks can do that!” Jordan from Charlestown, Ind.
• “I will be watching to see which of our representatives vote for this bailout,” said R. Kidd in Troy, N.C. “Let the American people see how many we can fire come election time.”
• “Call your Congressman. Stop blogging, posting comments, and call your congressman. This is the patriotic thing to do. Let them hear your opinion, show them this is still America and that you will not stand for this!!” Danny from Texas

Not everyone is upset about this though:

• “I was opposed to the bailout at first, but realized that the scope of this thing is global and so massive that the entire global economy could collapse if nothing was done. …The priority has to be resolving the present crisis of confidence in our economy. Remember, if Wall Street collapses, Main Street will go with it.” Bill from St. Louis
• “This money is not a handout to companies. It’s simply giving banks and mortgage companies loans, since the banking system itself is too unstable to raise this kind of capital. And no, the government cannot just use the $700 billion to pay back all the citizens that will be hurt by this. If the companies like AIG fail, the cost will be far far greater than $700 billion. Wake up!!” Andy from Chicago
• “It’s NOT a bailout. The government is not handing out cash, they actually stand to make a great deal of money out of this, which will trickle down to YOU. First priority should be to try to control and fix the problem, then regulate sufficiently to make sure this NEVER happens again.” Surfta from Brooklyn, N.Y

From Answers.com:

bailout: n. A rescue from financial difficulties: corporate bailouts.

Any profit the government would make on this is going to be completely negated by price inflation and interest on the debt accumulated. There is no money to perform this bailout. The money will be borrowed or printed. If the market was allowed to unwind this those issues would not occur and recovery would be far faster. Malinvestment needs to be liquidated and prices recalculated… not arbitrarily inflated.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/…

A young Saint Louis, Missouri motorist faces trouble with local police upset at the national attention his September 7 video of an out-of-control officer has drawn to ongoing problems within area law enforcement agencies. On Sunday, Brett Darrow filmed a Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department cruiser staking out his home.

The patrol car drove away as Darrow started his car and followed. Because his camera had been set to capture night-time footage, the first 45 seconds of the video is obscured. It does, however, capture the police car making questionable turning maneuvers in order to get away. Members of the police community are on the record regarding their desire to stake out Darrow’s home and harass the twenty-year-old. In late June, users of St. Louis CopTalk, an unofficial forum for Saint Louis area law enforcement, posted Darrow’s home address along with messages containing apparent death threats in retaliation for the young motorist’s taping of a DUI roadblock in November and a traffic ticket in June. One CopTalk user repeating the address wrote, “Every copper, City and County, should etch this little punks [sic] name in their [sic] memory. Brett Darrow, [address deleted], city of St. Louis.” (View screen capture of post)

Last month I posted about this. I had been hearing about this post and the stalking but here is a bit more evidence. Darrow really needs to be quicker on the camera though. It’s really disgusting. The original cop actually got fired which is good but the fact that these others have no problem following this guy around and staking our his home is scary. I’m curious as to what will be said on the cop forums after this story.